Ascidians collected during the Madibenthos expedition in Martinique: 1 - Phlebobranchia Author Monniot, Françoise text Zootaxa 2018 2018-02-28 4387 3 451 472 journal article 30627 10.11646/zootaxa.4387.3.3 7eba4551-e113-4902-9cb3-26a4d5df2993 1175-5326 1187659 F0845057-D918-4693-8D80-E94E6CA6EE8C Corella minuta Traustedt, 1882 Fig. 16 Stations : AS 66; AR 132; AR 309. ( MNHN P4 COR .A 72) Monniot F. 2016 : and synonymy Attached by the right body side to algae or to corals this ascidian has a transparent cartilaginous tunic ( Fig.16B ) with siphons opening at 90° to each other. Some brown pigment remained in a specimen fixed with formalin on the siphons and the branchial sac. There are 8 oral lobes with ocelli. Twenty-eight tentacles of two orders of size are separated by small buttons. The prepharyngeal groove is not dorsally indented. The dorsal tubercle opens in a slit. The dorsal lamina has triangular languets of increasing length posteriorly. The branchial tissue ( Fig. 16A ) contains 35 longitudinal vessels on the right side of the largest specimen of 12mm . The spiral stigmata are very regular. The gut forms a wide loop on half of the right body side ( Fig.16 A ).The stomach shows 5 folds seen by the internal side and has a caecum. The anus his smooth with 2 lips. The ovary consists of several lobes, some of them around the gut ( Fig.16A ) and others lie on the intestinal loop mixed with testis vesicles. FIGURE 14. Phallusia sp. A, dissection stained with hemalum; B, branchial tissue around the oesophagus; C, detail of the branchial tissue. FIGURE 15. Phallusia sp. A, prepharyngeal area; B, accessory openings of the neural gland; C, detail of neural gland openings. (Tissues stained with hemalum) The musculature is weak on the siphons; on the body it is reduced to a few longitudinal short fibres beginning at the prepharyngeal level and do not extend on the body sides. A few short muscles are on the sides of the atrial opening. All descriptive elements are the same for specimens recorded in the tropical Atlantic, Indian or Pacific Oceans ( Monniot F. 2016 ) but the origin of this species is unknown.